


Safe And Sound

by Heylittleyahtzee



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-20
Updated: 2014-01-23
Packaged: 2018-01-09 09:33:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1144382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heylittleyahtzee/pseuds/Heylittleyahtzee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>FTL Au, An injured Emma hides with 3 month-old Henry in the nursery while Regina leads their army against powerful necromancers. One-shot. Set to Safe and Sound by Taylor Swift.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Note! For this fic Emma and Regina are the same age.

Emma grimaced at the pain lancing through her shoulder. The sounds of battle on the other side of the stone wall were the only thing keeping her awake as she cradled the warm bundle in her arms close to her chest. Looking down at baby Henry she hoped he was still young enough to forget the war raging around them. They didn’t start remembering things at three months old right?

Necromancers had attacked them at dawn. There’d been warning signs of course, and Regina and the other magic wielders of the realm were ready for them. Emma had been tasked with getting everyone safely inside the castle and taking care of Henry. Her body was still tender from the birth but she could protect her son. Regina, being the strongest witch in their kingdom and Queen, was out there somewhere leading the charge. Emma tried really hard not to think about it.

Some of the necromancer’s foot soldiers had broken through the barricade and burned their way into the church where some of the villagers were hiding. Emma had jumped in to fight, allowing the church to be evacuated safely. In the process of grabbing Henry, she’d been stabbed through the shoulder. The wound wasn’t bad but it hurt. She’d taken refuge in the safest place she could think of, Henry’s nursery.

Regina had cast a spell on the door to make it seem small and insignificant, as well as a protection ward that was active whenever Henry was in the room. She’d bound the three of them to the spell so that when it was working they could see a soft glimmer around the edges of the doorframe, partly so they’d know when Henry was in his nursery and safe and partly so that when he grew older he’d be comforted knowing the spell was there.

There was a particularly large thump against the door and Emma jumped. Henry, startled by the loud noise and sudden movement, began to cry. Emma looked up at the door in fear. Sure it was locked, and sure there was a protection spell, but there was also an entire platoon of necromancers out there. Not being a magic user herself, Emma had no idea at what point to be afraid someone might break the spell and burn down the door.

“Please don’t cry,” she whispered to her son, “Please don’t cry. Mama’s right here Henry.” If the soldiers on the other side of the door heard him, they might come looking. Everyone knew they’d just had a son, and they’d be looking for them. Emma picked up her sword from the ground and kept it pointed at the door. She’d defend her son with a lame arm if she had to. Come and get me you sons of bitches, she thought, I need to get even anyway.

Her angry resolve quickly crumbled as Henry continued to cry. She’d run through the next person to step through that door, but she would also comfort her son. The song came to her then, what they always sang to Henry before bed when she’d been pregnant with him. Originally it’d been for Emma, to make her feel safe while she’d been on bed rest.

“Don't you dare look out your window, darling, everything's on fire, the war outside our door keeps raging on, hold on to this lullaby, even when the music's gone” She sang softly. Henry quieted instantly and Emma sighed in relief. It was short lived however as the door burst open with a large bang. Emma raised her sword. When she saw who was standing there she burst into tears.

Regina, dressed in her famous leather battle gear, was across the room in two steps. The door swung closed behind her and the latch repaired itself magically without her even looking at it. She was too focused on her wife and baby, curled up against the side of the crib looking all the worse for wear. She pulled Emma into a desperate and comforting kiss, holding her face in one hand and stroking her thumb across Henry’s forehead with the other.

“Are you alright, my dear?” she finally asked softly. Emma nodded mutely. Regina ran her fingers over the bloodied fabric of Emma’s shirt and then pressed her fingers directly against the wound. Emma stifled a yelp as the skin in her shoulder knit itself back together. When the pain faded she looked up into Regina’s eyes and tried to smile.

“I didn’t know if…” she whispered hoarsely. _They broke through the line. I thought you were dead_. Regina kissed her forehead gently and wrapped Emma in her arms.

“There are more than we expected,” she admitted. Emma pressed her cheek to Regina’s and stared down at Henry.

“Go then. They’ll need you,” she said. Regina ran her fingers through her son’s soft hair and kissed Emma one last time. The moment she stood Emma felt devastated. There were more than they expected, and they’d just barely had enough of an army to deal with the threat in the first place.

“Promise me…” Emma said as Regina reached the door.  _Promise me you’ll come back alive._

“We agreed, Emma. No promises we don’t know we can keep,” Regina reminded her softly.

“Just,” Emma growled in frustration, “Fuck, just fuck our agreement.” Regina turned and raised an eyebrow at her. Emma could imagine the queen’s voice in her head, “Language Emma….” She winced and placed her free hand against her pounding head.

“Fine,” she whispered, “Promise me, Henry and I will be safe. Promise you’ll protect us.” It was a cheap shot, of course. Everyone knew Regina would move heaven and earth for her family. Emma hoped beyond hope that directly putting her and Henry's safety in Regina's hands would make her desperate enough to survive, selfish enough to let other soldiers die if it meant she could continue keeping her family safe. Regina nodded slowly.

“I promise you and Henry will survive this, regardless of other outcomes,” Regina said quietly. Even if Emma's plan worked, which it probably would, there was still only a very small chance Regina would ever be returning to the nursery. Emma began to cry again. Regina stepped back towards her to comfort her but Emma shooed her away, not willing to look at her.

“I love you,” she whispered down at Henry, “I love you so so much.” They both knew the words weren’t meant for Henry.

“I will love you until the last breath leaves my body,” Regina muttered, then with a dark look she was gone, purple smoke curling around her like a cloak. Emma cried freely then, sobs shaking her body. Henry, sensing the departure of one mother and distress of the other, joined in. Emma quickly got control of herself, if only for Henry’s sake.

“It’s alright, it’s alright,” she said, and then she began to sing again, “Just close your eyes, the sun is going down, you'll be alright, no one can hurt you now, come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound.”

They’d be safe.

Whatever else, they’d be safe.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the battle, Regina finds herself dying alone because a stupid magic spell didn't kill her like it was supposed to.

She knew in her heart the second she opened her eyes that they would never find her. The battle was long over, gone with the coming of dawn like dew dissipating off the grass. The last necromancers died like a whisper. The foot soldiers dropped dead, as cold as they’d been before the necromancers forced them from the ground and marched them on her people. Everyone was safe. Everyone except Regina.

It was her spell that had wiped the last foes from the earth. As other sorcerers fell around her she’d grown more and more desperate. It was a spell no one was supposed to use, the equivalent to a magical nuclear bomb. It would take out any magical creature without a shield within range and the caster in seconds. Because of course to cast the spell she couldn’t cast a shield. Even without intending to cast it she could feel it curling around her hands, like the spell itself knew there was no other way. It didn’t matter if she killed all of the magical creatures in the vicinity of the castle. All her friends were already dead or safely within bubbles of magical protection.

In those last moments as the dark magic consumed her, magic she hadn’t done in years, she thought of Henry and Emma curled up together in the nursery. She’d promised them they’d live, and this was the only way. Without a second thought she threw her hands up in the air and yelled the incantation.

The next thing she knew she was waking up against the trunk of a tree miles and miles into the enchanted forest. Without looking down, and without wanting to, she could deduce pretty accurately that some of the things meant to stay inside her body were on the outside. Her hands were ivory rimmed pools of blood and the pain of it, oh the pain of it was more than she’d ever imagined. She couldn’t even cry out it hurt so badly, but still she didn’t die.

Why hadn’t the spell killed her? She was its caster after all. As far as she knew no magic-wielder had ever survived it. Anger flared within her as she realized something utterly stupid had happened. She’d been prepared to die, she’d said her goodbyes, and the world repaid her by throwing her into a stupid forest with idiotically painful wounds that would take hours to kill her. Before she knew what was happening tears were streaming down her face. It wasn’t fair. None of it was fair!

An ache settled itself in her chest, hard, as the reality of her death hit her. She would never see Henry or Emma again. She’d never see her little boy grow up. She’d never see Emma become queen of the realm. She’d never hold them in her arms or watch them play together. All she had was that last moment she’d seen them, and if that’d been goodbye she truly regretted it now. With the very last of her strength she focused on the image in her mind. Emma against the crib singing softly to Henry, keeping him safe, keeping herself safe.

“I remember tears streaming down your face, when I said, I'll never let you go, when all those shadows almost killed your light, I remember you said, don't leave me here alone, but all that's dead and gone and passed tonight,” the words came to her unbidden, reminiscent of Emma and the first night she’d ever sung to her. Emma had had a nightmare, one of the difficult downsides of having a child conceived by magical assistance. Regina had whispered the song to her under her breath. It was a beautiful memory, warm and rooted deeply into her soul.

It was like she couldn’t stop. She just kept singing the words over and over, like she’d done for Emma, like she’d done for Henry. The darkness was coming closer now, edging into her vision as her life force leaked away. She was so dazed, singing to herself in a hoarse and broken voice, she didn’t hear footsteps approaching or her the familiar voice calling her name. She didn’t even notice until they were kneeling right in front of her and holding her face in their hands.

“Thank god, thank god,” Emma kept saying over and over again, “You’ll be alright, you’re safe, it’s over.” Regina turned to look up at Emma and the world fell apart around her in a cascade of relief and happiness. She tilted her head up ever so slightly and was rewarded with a plethora of kisses all over her face.

“I thought…” she whispered. _I thought I’d never see you again_. _I thought I was going to die here without you_. Emma gripped her hands tightly, not caring that blood was getting on her clothes and her hands.

“Shhh, it’s okay. You don’t have to sing anymore, we found you,” Emma cooed. So that’s how they’d found her, Regina realized. They’d decided to search the woods for her and heard her singing. She could only hope they’d found her soon enough, as her head lolled to the side again. There was no energy left in her to hold it up. But then she didn’t need to because strong arms were reaching around and under her broken form, lifting her up and taking her away.

Emma grunted as she picked Regina up as gently as she could and began carrying her towards the castle. To hell with the healers, they were taking too long. If they weren’t going to come to her she’d take Regina to them. Without a thought she started humming under her breath. In the moments she thought she was going to die it’d been the noises of battle and of Henry that had kept her awake. She could only hope her voice did the same for Regina.

Regina held onto Emma’s voice like her life depended on it, which in this case it surely did. With the last bit of strength she had she cracked open her eyes and peered shrewdly at Emma’s face. She wasn’t losing her now, not after such extraordinary circumstances had allowed them to live.

“Promise me…” she whispered, struggling to speak even as the darkness tried to overcome her.

“I promise,” Emma said. She didn’t even need to hear the rest of Regina’s request. She’d made the same one only hours ago. _Promise me you’ll take care of me_. _Promise me I will survive because of you_. Emma narrowed her eyes and pushed her body to its limits to get Regina back to the castle as fast as she could.

She’d be safe.

Whatever else, she’d be safe.


End file.
